Dee Estuary Birding
Monthly Newsletter...
August 2025
Newsletter
A Wildlife Garden
It's been a good year in the garden, particularly
for insects, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to show some of the
interesting features in a series of photos. Although I've called this
article 'A Wildlife Garden' it's probably best described as an informal
garden with lots of wildlife interest. It's relevance to the Dee
Estuary is that the house is just 3/4 of a mile from the shore at West
Kirby, just a couple of minutes flight for a godwit!
Looking back now, 22 years ago, it's difficult to believe that we had a White-throated Sparrow in the garden. It stayed three days and plenty of birders saw and photographed it, including this splendid photo above, by Steve Young. You can read the article I wrote at the time: A White-throated Sparrow in the Garden. The species is a mega rarity in this country with an average of just one a year recorded.
We dug a pond in 1999 and it's been a big success. The first mild day
in late February sees it full of frogs - typically we count well over
50 at a time, and these are just the males, and the result is a large
mass of frog spawn. We love watching the tadpoles hatch and eventually
turn into baby frogs.
Mandarin Ducks are regular visitors, usually two or three but we've had
as many as six walking round the garden, but we only ever see them in
March and April. Mallards also turn up in March and April but are less
welcome as they will eat all the tadpoles if we let them, which is why
I cover the frog spawn with netting.
Google tells me this is an Emperor Dragonfly, the largest one we see
here. Broad-bodied Chasers and Common Darters are also seen regularly,
but it's the Common Blue Damselfly which really stands out with up to
40 or more flying over the pond and into the garden in May and June.
They do look lovely.
Not many people have gorse bushes in their garden,
but we have two. If you cut them back severely every couple of years it
stops them getting straggly and keeps the foliage nice and thick -
which Long-tailed Tits love to nest in. This photograph was taken on
May 1st this year (2025) when there seemed to be loads of Long-tailed
Tits around. The nest in the gorse bush is just out of sight to the
left, and the birds were constantly flying out of the gorse and on to
the branch which this one is about to land on. As far as I could make
out half the brood had left the nest that early morning, whilst the
other half was still in the nest. Consequently the parents were kept
very busy feeding them all, continually returning to the nest as well
as feeding those that had fledged. The next day there was no sign of
them.
I just love Brooms, as do the bees and hoverflies. They self seed in the garden and are very much encouraged.
Honesty is another plant which self seeds and is very much welcome.
They flower in early spring and so important to a variety of insects,
Orange Tip Butterflies love them. Other self seeding plants include
Hedge Garlic, Bluebells and Foxgloves. The Ivy shown in the photo is
growing up a Philadelphus plant (masses of white flowers) which Wood
Pigeons and Blackbirds nest in. To the right can be seen the leaves of
Alkanet. This is a bit of a weed and needs keeping under control, but
since I discovered that the small blue flowers which come out in late
spring attract bees I am more tolerant of it.
Meadowsweet and Purple Loosetrife put on
a spectacular display at the back of the pond in July and August.
Meadowsweet is an important food plant for various moth species, and
the flowers attract plenty of hoverflies and bees. The bees also love
the Purple Loosestrife.
We always leave a patch of the lawn un-mowed in the
summer to allow the Hawkweed to flower - it looks spectacular and is
always buzzing with hoverflies and bumble bees. The main problem I have
with that is the long grass which attracts lots of baby frogs so when I
do eventually mow it I have to do it very slowly and carefully to allow
them to escape.
This is a Scarlet Tiger Moth which I photographed on June 11th this year. This spectacular day flying moth is normally quite rare in our area but there was an influx this year with several reports, we had at least two in the garden.
The spring and summer this year has been particularly good for butterflies, these two Red Admirals were enjoying some June sunshine.
When I go to a garden centre I'm always tempted to buy any plant
buzzing with bees - which is why I ended up with these garden varities
of Thistle (left) and Sea Holly (right). They've certainly proved to be
very popular with our local Bumble Bees as you can see.
This sandstone wall marks the boundary between Grange and Caldy, and
runs right through our garden. Being a drystone wall it is full of
holes, knooks and crannies and is a haven for wildlife. Every year
there must be several Bumble Bee nests, almost certainly Wood Mice,
masses of bugs of one sort or another and we've even had Blue Tits
actually nesting in the wall.
Back to the birds. Great Spotted Woodpeckers are regular visitors, particularly in the winter when they come to the feeders several times a day.
In the winter I throw suet and bird seed on the lawn for the Blackbirds, Robins, Wood Pigeons and the occasional Stock Dove. I'm happy to see a handful of Herring Gulls joining in but when we have 20 or more it's too much. They eat all the food within a few seconds and I'm sure they must annoy the neighbours. So I have a battle of wills with them and try timing throwing out the food when no gulls are overhead! Note there are a couple of Black-headed Gulls in the photo, the weather has to be exceptionally cold for them to come into the garden and I'm happy to see them.
This isn't our garden but it was the nearest I could get to a photo of flyover Black-tailed Godwits. Our house is somewhere behind the trees in the extreme right of the photo, this large flock had just flown over and were landing in the 'godwit field' just a few minutes walk from our garden. The trees in the background is Stapledon Wood, usually they will fly directly over the wood on their way to and from the estuary, but every now and again they will divert to the right and over our house and garden, it's always a thrill to see them.
The godwits are there in spring, summer and autumn, but in the winter we have Pink-footed Geese flying over. This has only started happening over the past few years with the big increase in numbers on the Dee Estuary which has taken place since 2010, as documented in my October 2023 Newsletter. The geese seem to only feed in the North Wirral fields in mid-winter but when they do they fly over the garden every morning at first light, they will often stay there until it is almost dark as we can barely see them as they fly over at dusk returning to the marshes off Heswall to roost.
Another flyover of note involved just one bird. It was during one of the covid lockdowns and we were sitting in the sun when our resident crows let out the crow equivalent of a roar of rage - we looked up in time to see a Red Kite right over the garden at roof height. It would have made a great photo but by the time we'd recovered from our astonishment it was too late to get the camera with the bird disappearing into the distance. Other raptors include Buzzards and we can get six or more kettling over the garden, often with a couple of Sparrowhawks soaring with them. Ospreys must fly over from time to time, particularly on spring migration, but we are yet to see one. Another species which we never used to see but has increased greatly in recent times are Ravens. It's great to hear them honking as they fly high over the garden and they now nest in nearby woods. I always associate Ravens with school holidays on lonely hebridean islands so to actually have them here has been just amazing.
I just want to finish with a tribute to my father, Victor Smith, who designed the garden way back in the early 1960s. It was before the term 'Wildlife Garden' was invented but, being a great nature lover and keen birdwatcher, he knew how to make a natural garden of continual interest to both humans and wildlife.
Note that, apart from the White-throated Sparrow all
photographs by Richard Smith.
Richard Smith
Colour Ring Report
July proved to be a particularly good month for
colour ringed birds, and from a good slection of species. Here is a
selection of the most interesting records.
Spoonbill
White (NCCT)
Ringed at Ventjagersplaten, just south of Rotterdam, Netherlands, in
June 2022 as a chick.
It was present at the ringing site until September 2022.
The next record wasn't until it turned up at Burton Mere Wetlands on
09/06/2025. It spent several days there before being recorded at
Marshisde RSPB (near Southport) over the last few days of June before
returning to Burton Mere Wetlands in July, it was also seen at Pargate
that month.
Cormorant
Photo of recovered ring by Elliot Montieth
Green (ZTY)
Ringed at Puffin Island in June 2022 as a chick.
It was recorded at Hilbre in late August and early September in 2022
before being spotted at Audenshaw Reservoir, near Manchester, in
October 2022.
Recorded at Hilbre at the begining of July 2025 but sadly found dead
later that month, possibly taken by a fox.
Little Egret
Blue (CX)
Ringed at Newark-on- Trent, Notts, in May 2017 as a chick.
It was spotted at Rutland Water in August that year, which turned out
to be the only record away from the Dee Estuary.
It was first recorded at Heswall in September 2019 and every year
since. We only ever see it in late summer and early autumn, the
earliest date was July 4th (in 2025) and the latest was September 17th
(in 2020). So we have no idea where it spends the winter or where it
breeds!
Black-headed Gull
Orange (2ALT)
Ringed at WWT Castle Espie, County Down, Northern Ireland, June 2015 as
a chick.
Recorded at Hilbre on 06/07/2025.
It's sighting on Hilbre in July was the first since
it was ringed 10 years ago. Remarkably, it's also our first
colour-ringed Black-headed Gull which has been ringed in Ireland.
Mediterranean Gulls
Red (PRA3)
Ringed at Wojcice, SW Poland, in June 2017 as a chick.
A record in April 2019 near the ringing site is the only one back in
Poland. In July that year it was seen near Worcester before turning up
at Hoylake in August. Like most Med Gulls it then headed south for the
winter when it was recorded near Bordeaux in November.
All other records have been at Thurstaston, it was recorded there from
late July to early September in 2023, and on 20/07/2025.
Yellow AY.PS
Ringed near Solvesberg, southern Sweden, in May 2022
as an adult.
Recorded:
Falkholmen, southern Sweden, in June 2024 as a breeding adult with
chick.
Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB on 20/03/2025 and Connah's Quay Nature
Reserve on 03/07/2025.
This bird featured in the April
2025 Newsletter after it turned up at Burton Mere Wetlands in March
already paired up with another ringed bird which turned out had been a
breeding pair in Sweden in 2024. I haven't been able to confirm if they
succesfully bred in 2025, there was no sign of its mate at Connah's
Quay.
Sandwich Tern
Red (KCA)
Ringed at Ynyslas (Cardigan Bay) in September as a
juvenile.
This bird shows some typical movements of a Liverpool Bay Sandwich Tern
since it was ringed, It was recorded breeding at Hodbarrow (Cumbria) in
2018, 2021 and 2022. Post breeding records have all been in July and
August and it's been recorded in Rhyl, Formby, West Kirby and Hilbre -
the last record being at Hilbre on 16/07/2025. The only record away
from our area was in late August 2020 when it was at Port Seton (east
of Edinburgh), a surprisingly frequent movement north-east across the
country which some terns undertake - you wonder why they undertake such
a journey the 'wrong way' when they are about to head south-west for
the winter!
Black-tailed Godwits
The Black-tailed Godwits started to return from
breeding in Iceland from the end of June, and we had a large roost at
Caldy by the end of Ju;y of over 4,000 as well as hundreds elsewhere
around the estuary. In total we managed to log 61 records of 19
different colour-ringed birds including five ringed in Bangor Harbour,
two near Cork, one in Belfast Harbour, one on the Humber estuary, one
in north-west Spain, two on the Tagus estuary in Portugal and the
remainder in Iceland - so quite a spread of locations. Here are a
couple of examples, there will be more next month.
It was a very hot day and the whole flock were pointing the beaks in the air and 'panting'!
Ringed at Cork Harbour in September 2020.
It spent the winters of 2020/21 and 2021/22 around Cork Harbour but
since then the only records have been from the Dee Estuary.It waa at
Caldy in August 2022 and July 2024, and again in July 2025. It turned
up in February 2024 at Burton Mere Wetlands suggesting that it may have
spent the winter in our area, maybe the Mersey Estuary?
Ringed in southern Iceland in June 2022, as an adult.
It was recorded five times at Slimbridge (Severn Estuary) between
August 2022 and March 2023 before being spotted back at its ringing
site in Iceland in June 2023.
In August/September 2023 and 2024 it was on the Dee Estuary at
Oakenholt and Burton Mere Wetlands, and back at Slimbridge in November
and December 2024.
In 2025 it was on Frodsham Marsh in March and at Caldy in July.
Redshank
Ringed at Ynyslas (Cardigan Bay) in December 2019.
Recorded at Thurstaston/Heswall in August 2024 and July 2025.
We saw several more colour ringed Redshanks in July this year, but, frustratingly, all too distant to read the ring.
Rock Pipit
Ringed
at Hilbre in August 2023, as a juvenile.
It's been recorded several times on Hilbre since and was seen carrying
nesting material on 14/4/2025.
Last record was on Hilbre 24/07/2025.
Also on 24/07/2025 two juveniles, with rings CBS and CBV, were photographed, both had been ringed on 12/07/2025.
Colour Rings were recorded by Richard
Smith, Stephen
Hinde, Paul Ralston, Tim Kinch, Richard Speechley, Alan Hitchmough,
Elliot Montieth, Allan Conlin, Peter Haslem. John Hewitt, Sean O'Hara
and Colin
Schofield.
Richard Smith
July Bird News
A count of 512 Manx Shearwaters from Hilbre was a nice surprise
on the 20th, and over 300 were still there the next day. Also on the
the 20th there were 420 Sandwich Terns with plenty of juveniles,
apparently they had another good breeding season at Cemlyn Bay. The
highest count of Sandwich Terns this month was at Point of Ayr with
1,000 on the 14th, although nearby Formby Shore had over 3,000!
26 Greenshank at Parkgate on the 23rd was a good
high count, I reckon the highest July count there for over 10 years.
Other high counts of waders included 4,150 Black-tailed Godwits at
Caldy and 3,800 Redshank at Heswall, 4 Common Sandpipers were at
Heswall on the 25th. Gronant has been seeing some nice waders with a
Little Stint on the 3rd and an adult Curlew Sandpiper on the 27th, an
imm Caspian Gull was also spotted in the gull roost. Numbers of
Mediterranean Gulls are increasing each year and there were at least 36
in the gull roost at Thurstaston by the end of the month.
The Spoonbill pair breeding at Burton Mere Wetlands
succesfully fledged three young, and were among eight at Parkgate on
the 23rd. Marsh Harriers also succesfully bred giving some great views,
not sure if the Bitterns bred but one was seen flying past the
reception hide on several occasions.
What to expect in August
As I write this there is a foecast of a storm early in the month, first
blowing SW then swinging round to NW. This has the potential for some
spectacular number of sea birds with birds first being blown up into
the
Irish Sea from the south then being blown towards our coast in
Liverpool Bay. Should be interesting, the only downside is that there
are neap tides so everything is likely to be a bit distant. But expect
Storm Petrels, Manx Shearwaters, skuas and who know what else!
August is always a good month for terns, Sandwich Tern numbers will peak around mid-month and we will certainly see Common Terns with a good possibilty of Arctic Terns and Black Terns, and perhaps Roseate Terns.
It will be a good month for returning waders with many still in summer plumage - Bar-tailed Godwits and Grey Plovers in particular looking stunning. The main Ringed Plover passage is usually concentrated over a period of just a few days, if this coincides with the mid-month spring tides expect Hoylake shore and the beach at Point of Ayr to be covered with them. We may get one or two adult Curlew Sandpipers and by the month end the first juveniles should be coming through. There has been a recent incease in Greenshanks coming through on passage, and last month was good, so look out for them at Parkgate and the Connah's Quay Reserve.
August can be superb for rarities, think Hudsonian
Godwit and Citrine Wagtail!
August Highest
Tides:
11th 13.22hrs (BST) 9.3m
12th 14.00hrs (BST) 9.3m